A Birthday to Remember
by mokomel
Summary: It's Ann's birthday, and Cliff comes to visit her. HM 64 fic


A/N: Another AnnxCliff story. Probably a bit better than my last one. Then again, my fics are never that great in my opinion. / Btw, this is HM 64 Ann and Cliff, not the FOMT versions. Honestly, the FOMT characters annoy me a bit (besides Kai), probably because I'm so attached to HM 64. and sorry for the horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE title and summary. i'm extremely terrible at those.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Today was my birthday. Dad let me take the day off to celebrate. He told me Karen had planned a party for me at the bar that night, so he and Gray would come after they finished all their chores.

It hadn't been too bad of a birthday so far. I'd visited Karen earlier; she had wanted to take me out drinking that night, seeing as alcohol was her way to celebrate just about everything. I had politely declined, but promised I'd stop by the bar so she could be satisfied with throwing me a party. It was pretty much mandatory, since she was so excited about it and would probably have a fit if I refused. And nobody likes an upset Karen.

After my talk with her, I had gone to the Goddess Pond to just enjoy the nice summertime. Jack had found me, though, and given me a piece of cake to enjoy. I could tell it was home-baked, but it was actually pretty good. I suppose that's to be expected, though, when your wife used to work at the bakery. Elli must have been giving him lessons, because his cooking wasn't so great before their marriage. Or maybe she baked the cake. Though, I had to admit, if she did, it wasn't up to her usual standards.

I sighed and looked up at the sky. I was now nineteen. It was hard to believe how fast the years went by. It was a bit depressing getting older. I guess the feeling of responsibility was finally creeping up on me. It was bad enough Dad was pressuring me to find a nice man to marry. He had been rather fond of Jack, and after the young farmer had gotten married he seemed to be afraid I would never become a bride. Personally, I wasn't too concerned with marriage. I had plenty of time, even though my father didn't seem to think so.

I was so deep in thought, I didn't notice the arrival of another person until they spoke.

"Hey, there."

I looked up and saw Cliff standing in front of me.

He was a bit of a vagabond, traveling around and not having a permanent home. We had gotten off to a bad start; after walking into each other, he had blamed the whole thing on me, even though it was clearly his fault. We weren't on very good terms after that, exchanging insults when we met, though looking back, it was mainly me who was doing the insulting.

We did run into each other a lot, though, so I did get to know him after a while. I had found out he wasn't such a bad guy after all. He could actually be kind of charming sometimes, in a weird way. I rather enjoyed his company now, though we still got into fights quite a bit. He had a bit of a habit teasing me, which I did not take to kindly. But even so, we were good friends. In fact, he was probably my best friend after Karen.

"What's up?" I asked.

He grinned.

"I heard it was your birthday."

"Yeah, so?" I smirked.

"What, can't a guy say 'Happy birthday' to a girl on her special day?" he said, smirking back.

"Not unless he's friends with her."

"Right, because I know how much we hate each other," he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Of course," I grinned.

"Anyways, I made you a present," he said, "so be grateful."

"You didn't have to do that," I frowned.

He shrugged, and put his hand in his pocket. When he removed it, I saw a small wooden figure in his hand.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to get a better look.

"It's a wooden horse," he answered, opening his hand so I could see it, "I carved it myself."

I took the little horse out of his hand and examined it. It wasn't too big; about the size of mouse. The detail was impeccable, though. I was surprised at his ability to make something so realistic.

"It's amazing," I gasped, "How did you become so good?"

"Years of practice, I guess," he shrugged, "I had to have something to do in my spare time."

"Thank you," I said, "It's wonderful."

He shrugged again, and I could've sworn his cheeks turned pink.

"It was nothing," he said, "I figured you deserved something special."

Now it was my turn to turn pink.

We stood there in an uncomfortable silence for a while, until Cliff spoke up and asked if I wanted to sit down. I agreed, and we sat together, leaning against the trees.

"Y'know, something funny happened the other day," he said, looking at me.

"Oh, yeah? What?"

Cliff leaned back and looked at the sky.

"Your dad offered to give me a horse if I married you."

"Please tell me you're joking," I groaned, turning red.

"Nope," he grinned, "I turned him down, though."

"Good, because-"

"I told him I didn't need a bribe to want to marry you."

I froze.

"Ha, ha, good one," I laughed nervously.

I turned to him and saw no amusement on his face. No teasing smile.

"Oh, my god, you're serious," I gasped.

"Ann-" he started, pulling something blue out of his pocket.

"Oh, my god, you're serious- you really want to marry me!" I repeated shrilly.

"Ann," he said, looking me straight in the eye, "Will you marry me?"

I looked at him with a shocked face. I couldn't marry him. He was just a friend. I couldn't. I wasn't ready for marriage. This couldn't be happening.

"Ann?" Cliff said worriedly, taking my shoulders, "Are you alright?"

I stared at him blankly. I didn't want marriage. Did I? Dad had always talked about it, but I never took it seriously. But if I really thought about it….

My eyes widened at a sudden realization. I DIDwant to marry him. He was the one I wanted to wake up next to every day. He was the only one I could see myself with for the rest of my life. Somehow over time I had fallen in love and didn't even know it.

"Ann?" Cliff repeated, "You don't have to marry me if you don't want, you know."

"No!" I shouted, snapping out it.

He looked at me, confused.

"Are you okay, then?"

"Yes," I sighed, "And, yes, I'll marry you."

Cliff's face lit up.

"Really?"

I smiled and nodded.

His face broke out into a grin, and he grabbed my face and put his lips to mine. It was a surprise, but not an unpleasant one. I closed my eyes and kissed back.

"You won't regret this," he said happily, when we broke apart.

"I better not," I smirked, "And you better not regret it either, since it was your idea."

"Well, it'll be hard being married to such a horrible cook, but I'll get used to it," he teased.

"Not funny," I glared, hitting his arm.

"Oww, not to mention violent," he added, rubbing the spot where I hit him, "You hit a lot harder than a girl should, you know that?"

"Better than being a guy who hits like a girl," I sniffed.

"Are you suggesting something?"

"Take it however you want."

"Well, then, I'll just pretend it wasn't me you were referring to."

I shrugged, and grabbed his hand as he stood up and offered it to me.

"So, what do you say we go celebrate your birthday?"

"Sounds good to me," I replied, smiling.

oooooooooooooooooo

A/N: Okay, maybe you're thinking this is unrealistic because they never dated or anything. But let's face it: none of the couples in HM 64 ever really dated each other. Nor were there ever scenes where they confessed their love. I think this is pretty much how the engagements happened. Getting to know each other, then a random proposal. 'Cept for maybe Maria and Harris, since Maria gave him a love letter or something like that.

And, yes, it was a rather bad ending, but I'm terrible at them, so you must forgive me. And not mention it if you give a review. And I know some things may be unrealistic, like how Ann changed her mind so fast, so please don't mention that either. I know a lot of my flaws, so I don't really like hearing people constantly pointing them out, though I won't be too mad if you do. I suppose it's a good thing in the end.


End file.
